OSR Review & Commentary On Henchmen Sing the Blues By Michael L Staus For Wretched Vigilantes Campaign Settting For The Wretched Rpg

 " Bad guys always lose, heroes never win, and Henchmen? Henchmen sing the blues. Explore the past, present and future of Hammettville and discover the entire secret history of the Wretched Vigilantes. Featuring five new adventures, dozens of new and revised NPCs, new organizations, four new songs by Elvis Presley and the return of the Dyslexic Duo. Everything you think you know about Hammettville and the Warden Foundation is a lie, find out the truth and discover why Henchmen Sing the Blues (234 pages)." 

 

Henchmen Sing the Blues By Michael L Staus ends the trilogy that started with Wretched Vigilantes then went to Bad Guys Never Win and ends with Henchmen Sing The Blues. This book adds so much to the Wretched Vigilantes Hammetville campaign setting from new NPC's, factions, advesaries, expanded campaign setting info, and expanded timeline which takes into account the future of 2049. And it's this timeline that runs from the Eighties to 2049 that is central to the heart of Hammetville as a campaign scene. 
Much like many of the Lamentations of the Flame Princess rpg adventures the Wretched Rpg has improved by it's setting books, adventures, and supplement books. And Henchmen Sing The Blues is no exception because it brings down a boat load of new material. The artwork is A.I artwork but it most certainly fits the material in spades. And if your into super hero rpg's then Wretched Vigilantes fits that sweet spot between The Boys And the comic book series Marshal Law. The material here is gritty, dark, and funny in a weird sorta of way. Hammetville is changing and not always for the better. The heroes have gone bad and the PC's have to take them down in Wretched Vigilantes and the whys, wherefores, etc. that were talked about within Bad Guys Never Win get's even more heinous. As the lies start to drop away one by one. 

And this goes right back into the fact that the major NPC's,villains, super spies, etc. of  Bad Guys Never Win get thier due within Henchmen Sing The Blues. The adventures revolve around the exposure of the lies of the Warden foundation. We get some solid tie ins to Aviladad from Wretched New Flesh second edition. And the whole scene of supers changes as the PC's are put in the middle of a great campaign that has the potential for long haul campaigning. Seriously these book brim with possibilities. ML Straus has done a great job presenting a very troubled world of super humans. 

All of this goes deeply back into material presented with Wretched Vigilantes and there are lots of call backs through out Henchmen Sing The Blues. This maybe one of the best books that we've seen to come out of the Red Room. The layout is well done, the writing is on point, and these are fun books with some good plays on the stereotypes we've come to expect from super heroes and the genre. There are plenty of tie ins for much darker material from The Red Room. Adventure elements such as the Beyond are lurking in the background and there's lots of room for horror, supernatural, or other Red Room material. All in all I'm pretty satisfied with Henchmen Sing The Blues and hope the author continues the series. This is a very good Red Room and Wretched rpg setting and hope to see more material set within this universe.